Mosaic

by FlyingRedPanda

(Bucky/OC, Winter Soldier x OC) "The broken pieces… take the ones you do have, the ones you'll find, the ones you'll make and build something… build someone, who you could live with." A story about two people and their interactions with each other, the people they come across, and the world around them. All while being hunted by friend and foe alike. (Re-editing, still posting new)

21. Valeriy Ayers - Repeat

AN: This chapter has been beta-ed by Camilla Gordellion, and the Anonymous Second Beta came back to help me rip this apart into something I'm rather content with.

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Chapter 21: Valeriy Ayers - Repeat

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'Left. Left. Left. Left. Ah shit!'

An explosion to my right threw me left as if I were a ragdoll. Both sides of me burned. The right from searing heat and the left from my skin being scraped off by the bloody ass wall.

Scrambling onto my feet with the help of the bloody ass wall, I took off down the hallway as fast as I could. No matter how fast my feet pounded the polished tiles, the men in suits only gained on me. The doors in my way were heavy on my arms. Each needed to be pulled, further slowing me down.

'…The fuck…? The fuck happened to the Puppet armory!? Why is it another long ass bloody hallway!?'

No time for dawdling.

They're right behin –

Agonising pain crashed into my body, my ears heard the crunch of my breaking bones. My knees nearly gave out at the sudden force against the bottom of my feet. My lungs screamed for air but coughs choked the flow.

To my side was the statue of Sergeant Barnes. Lit up in the night time air of the Genevan courtyard. No walls around me. The fresh air a biting cold on my skin.

Yelling behind me pulled my attention away from that familiar face. I took off running again, exhaustion taking over the muscles in my legs. My body bounced right off the now revolving main doors. Not matter how hard I shoved at the glass, they only moved achingly slow.

Cornered, I tore the monitoring bracelet off, blindly entering the code for the explosives. It'd buy me some time. Flinging it as far as I could, I saw it fizzle between the dress shoes of the suits on my tail.

"Oh bloody hell…."

They swarmed me. I couldn't keep my limbs to myself, feeling them tear away. My skull caved with a loud crack before the glass did.

Gasping for air, I found myself right next to Sergeant Barnes' statue. I didn't wait for the thundering footsteps behind me and ran for the building.

'Please be open. Please be open. Please work. Please – YES!'

The fire escape stairwell worked. Though I lost some seconds to pick the lock.

If the armory wasn't where it was supposed to be, I'd just have to find a lab and blow those bastards sky high. The five labs I managed to locate on the first floor were empty of any equipment. Utterly bare.

Time to check the fifth floor. Where most of the floor plan was dedicated to lab space. Hopefully some luck there.

I couldn't be bothered with the steps and climbed onto the railing, hauling myself from floor to floor.

On the eighth door, I finally hit a lab, which was supposed to be a fucking broom closet. But instead, it's a fully equipped lab with chemicals and all. Along with a little redhead straight up climbing on the shelves like some monkey.

"…."

"Who are you?!" the kid demanded.

Ignoring her, I tried to find the button for the lockdown procedure. Except there was no big red button behind a glass box by the door. Or anywhere for that matter. So a chair shoved under the handle would have to do.

Before I could get working on dragging a shelf in the way of the door, I felt something shatter against the back of my head. Everything spun. I barely dodged another breaker aimed at my face. That would have hurt a hell of a lot more.

"Hey! Stop that!" I snapped, rubbing at my head to find blood there. "Really not the time."

"You're not supposed to be here. So who are you?!" Not at all stopping with the rain of beakers.

"One of the scientists."

"No, you're not. I know everybody who works here."

"There's about a hoard worth's of men about to break in here."

"What?"

I plucked her off the floor before she could check and let them all in. My arms felt rather numb from trying to use strength to counteract her struggling, and that's when it hit me.

'I'm dreaming….'

I could feel it in my legs now. The slight numbness as I walked around the island counter. It sure explained why H.Q. was empty except for this random kid and those suits. Or how easy, yet numbingly weird, it was to lift the little kid.

Tossing various chemicals onto the counter behind me, I grabbed a big beaker and a hot plate.

"Are you trying to blow us up?!"

"Eh. Go open the vent, would you?" I asked as I dumped the chemicals together.

The little kid huffed, bounding off in a different corner than I expected, but that was where the vent cover was.

'Navigating this is going to be hell…' I grumbled in my head.

Not much was where it was supposed to be. This room was supposed to be a stupid broom closet.

I flicked on the hot plate, racing into the vent. Not much time before the reaction turns violent.

The kid had already climbed a distance… on her back using her limbs against the top to push her forwards, which was how I was moving. It saved me from wasting energy to hold myself up.

A banging against the door echoed into the little space, making my ears ring. I could barely hear the door giving way over a whoosh of flames. The little kid screeched as searing pain danced across my own nerves.

'Oh come on! At least have realistic reactions, damn it!'

That explosion wasn't supposed to be so damn fiery.

With a sigh, I ran into the building again, going straight for the lab with the kid.

This time I forewent the explosives, and closed the vent grate behind me. The kid wasn't moving fast enough with her little limbs, and most definitely wasn't enjoying the shoves I gave her. Should have just gone first and had her hang onto my leg to drag her along.

But we didn't have time to switch places.

They were coming. The metal sheets rumbled with their movements, getting closer and closer.

"Move it!" I barked, only to scramble over the ninety degree drop I shoved the kid down.

'This is the second floor! Why is there a long ass chute here? To go to hell?! What the actual fuck!?'

It wasn't as long of a drop as I thought.

'So it's one of these dreams…' I thought, waiting to die and respawn, as how these types of dreams seemed to always go.

Still was strange to feel the warmth leave me and the little kid struggling about. Shouldn't be too long to die, and it came with a body dropping onto my face.

This time I didn't bother with the fifth floor, climbing the railings as high as I could go. That was until bullets started to fly. I had to take the stairs normally, keeping close to the walls. Didn't feel like more bullet holes than the one in my upper thigh.

With a deep breath in, I tried to take flight or run on air or pull on the air so I didn't have to physically run up these damn steps. My attempt ended up with a strong leap straight into a wall, a broken nose and a missing front tooth. At least now could just jump my way up.

'…Fuck… I might actually need the kid,' I thought, staring at a biometric lock to the roof. She seemed to belong here better than I did, so she could probably open this up. 'Oh hi bullet. Thank you. Mind hitting me in the head nex – '

'This time, grab the kid.'

"Who are you?!"

"A friend."

'Nope. The horde's too fast to go back to the stairwell.'

"Who are you?!"

"A friend."

'At least, I'm lucid enough for super strength now,' I thought, denting the elevator doors under my fingers as I pried them open. The little jump I tried did nothing for remembering how to fly in a dream.

"Hang on to my back. Do not let go."

With a leap for the elevator cables, my hands turned bloody as I was unable to stop our descent straight onto a metal beam that stuck upwards for some fucked up reason or another.

"Who are you?!"

"A friend."

This time I worked around the edge, climbing what I could. Mostly made my own hand holds by denting the shit out of the I-beams and cutting the fuck out of my fingers for the effort.

'Did she just…. Did she just slip the bloody hell off my shoulders!?'

With a huff, I let go, diving head first right for the metal spike. Dying slow would just be annoying.

"Who are you?!"

"Shut up," I snapped, tying her hands around my shoulders.

She shoved her pointy little knee against my spine near the base of my neck. Her hands tucked under my chin, the pressure getting tighter and tighter.

And I died.

Again.

This time from being strangled to death by the little brat.

"Who are you?!"

"Friend."

This time the elevator moved straight for us.

'Did I seriously get caught up in the gears?!'

"Who are you?!"

"Friend."

'Yay! Reached the top bloody floor!'

And even managed to rip the elevator doors right off. It made a wonderful bat to crush the suits who lingered in my way.

"Go open the roof door," I ordered the little brat.

I had no idea why, but it felt like it was where I had to go.

A grenade later, I was standing next to Sergeant Barnes again.

'What if…?'

A shrug later, I turned away from H.Q. and raced for the woods, which seemed normal at the moment but I had a faint memory that they were supposed to be buildings in Geneva not trees. A grin tugged on my lips. No thundering steps of the suits.

In. The. Clear.

Until a growl caught my ears.

'Ah shit…. Was worth the shot,' I sighed, tugging on my leg that a tree root was trying to take away, and then got torn to pieces by a pack of hellish canines and the moving tree roots.

"Who are you?!"

"Friend."

And the cycle continued on and on and on.

'Damn shit. Did I fucking spawn in a couple inches of water? Face down. And unable to move!?'

No matter how I struggled my body would not move. My arms felt numb and heavy. My legs… couldn't feel them. Only my eyes could move as my lungs slowly filled with water.

'You have to be bloody shitting me!'

This was the exact position I was sleeping in. On my stomach with my head turned to the side.

'At least the view's nice…?'

Looked like I was drowning in some fancy school fountain feature. The little wall holding the water was within arm's reach.

Best part was the line of students in front of me. They just stood there, staring.

'Damn shit. I don't remember how to breathe underwater…. Hopefully I don't spawn here again…. Oh this isn't much better.'

I wasn't in a fountain and I could move this time. But I was utterly underwater. I swam for the surface. Or at least the light. Had no clue which direction that was.

My brain struggled to remember whatever the dream trick to breathing underwater was as I drowned again. And again. And again. Appearing further and further away from the patch of light.

'Hey Sergeant,' I saluted the familiar statue and gunned it for the building.

Almost felt like autopilot now. Grabbing the little kid. Prying the elevator doors. Climbing the mess of sharp metals. And dying again to repeat the process. Over and over and over.

That was until I died and didn't pop up at some point of the dream. I was still running in the same damn hall on the top floor. Though this time everything was bigger, taller.

'Oh shit, I jumped into the kid.'

And I was on my own with the suits still on my tail.

With my little short legs pattering their desperate little steps. With my little arms reaching high up to open such heavy doors. With my little lungs gasping what little air I so desperately needed.

I didn't have a clue as to where to go either. I've never survived this far. This was all new. The halls looked familiar but the layout was closer to an ever-changing maze.

"This way!" a woman yelled and I turned the corner for her only to come face to face with myself.

My adult body towered over me. A flowing purple dress and hair done up flawlessly. The smile on my face made my veins run ice.

A gut reaction had me kicking out. An attempt to create distance from her as fast as I could. But not fast enough. A blade sliced right across my stomach.

Gathering what was spilling out, I ran for it. Or tried to. Hobbling was a closer description. The pain almost too much to keep going, but I had to.

"How far do you think you can run!?" she laughed, her voice seemingly coming from every direction.

I knew I couldn't out run her. The vents weren't an escape option. She moved far faster than I could in there.

I couldn't hide from her. There wasn't enough time. Her eyes never left me.

There was nothing I could do. She closed the distance between us more and more with every leisured step she took.

'Come on! Fly! Please! Or float! Just get out of her bloody reach!'

A stab to my lower back brought me to my knees. But I had to keep moving. Even if one hand had to hold my guts in place. Even if I had to shuffle forwards, little by little, on the other hand. Even if I had to hold myself high enough so the sword wouldn't drag against the tiles.

Her footsteps a series of clicks from her high heels as she drew closer and closer and closer.

"No matter how long you run. No matter how far you run. You can't escape me."

But still I tried, doing whatever I could. Even if it wasn't much. I didn't want to give up.

"Did you trip again?" punctuated with an exasperated laugh, a hand clasping around mine and pulling me up right.

'Devon?'

"We're going to be late for the midterm."

'Huh? Midterm?'

My feet followed after his. My hand still held in his. My height a lot closer his.

A glance down and I was back to my body. A glance around and the H.Q. halls weren't there. We were outside under a covered bridge.

This wasn't my university. Either of them.

This wasn't any place I knew.

The architecture a clash of east meets west. The castles were built half into and half atop of two summits, clouds obscuring parts of them. They even poured onto the bridge.

'I wonder if we can pull something off like this in real life. Probably have some sort of oxygen problem.'

I dare not make a move that Devon didn't lead. It's how he worked in my dreams. Peace. He was the peace in the mayhem. So long as I don't make a move on my own.

'…I guess we're dating in this dream…. Been a long while since that popped up,' I thought, the panic of writing a midterm for who knows what sinking into my nerves. 'Why am I still dreaming of school…?'

The temptation of dragging my feet was difficult to contain. But I knew the moment I do, Devon would go missing on me, and the mayhem of my dreams will take over. Probably in the form of a nonsensical exam.

"What do you want to do after the midterm?" he asked over his shoulder, still pulling me along through the crowd of people.

'Try to fly? This place would be so much easier to explore in the air. Hopefully the wind doesn't fuck with me.'

Someone bumped into my arm and I instinctively clutched down on Devon's hand, but it was gone.

My eyes darted from the back of one head to the next, searching. Anxiously. He was easy enough to recognise for me. I could still recognise him in a disguise. All I needed was his posture or the way he moved. But nope. He was nowhere to be seen.

'Great. I have no shits as to where the exam is….'

And so I meandered the halls of this future meets past building, just trying to find my way. Maybe I'd stumble across the exam room.

"Sweetie."

'No….'

The strength in my body just left me. I couldn't use it. My lungs stopped breathing. My knees didn't even work, collapsing from under me.

"I've missed you so much, Sweetie."

'Please no. I can't. I… I….'

All I could do was curl into a tight ball on the ground. Hug my head and hope he couldn't see me. I couldn't even flinch away from the searing pain blooming across my back. I could barely breathe through the choking gasps, trying to get my crying under control. But I couldn't.

'I can't. I can't. Ican' ' 'tIcan'tIcan't.'

The terror running rampant through my body froze me in place. To whatever he wanted to do.

"There you are."

'…Devon…?'

The sounds of footsteps all faded away except for one. The beat familiar to me as it came to a stop right by me. Then a pair of hands picked my head off the ground, a warm calf tucking under my forehead.

Fingers combed through my hair. A gentle pat on my head. A stroke down my back. The world melting away at his touch.

"I swear one of these days, I'm going to turn around and find that you've actually tripped into a ditch."

I wanted to reach out, grab onto him. But I dared not move. I didn't want to risk him disappearing again.

It's safe with him.

Peaceful.

I want to stay here.

'Please let me stay.'

Where nothing else mattered.

Just the gentle touch on my head.

The fear melted away at his fingertips.

I could almost see the exasperated smile on his face.

But my head hit the ground before I could….

'Well fuck….'

I peeled myself off my side with a sigh.

'This isn't the school anymore. Where the bloody hell am I now…? Feels like a facility of some sort.'

Cold metal walls. Shiny polished floors. Wire windowed doors. Long ass hallways.

'Yay… more running and shit. Fun.'

I scrambled to my feet and almost broke out laughing at the old movie set ninja after me. That was until a katana sliced into the back of my calves.

I grabbed onto the top edge of the doorframe and sent my knee into their face, feeling the crunch of a broken nose. Using the momentum of the attack to try and slip behind him, I felt something almost too familiar.

'Oh? Yes! Muwhahahaha! I can fly!'

Perfect for how useless my legs were at the moment.

With a twist of my body, I half flew – half floated down the hall, searching for a way out. The mechanics of it all was more than shaky. Mind numbingly so. Felt a little like swimming through the air, but without so much flailing about.

'Huh… this is an aquarium now…? And I have no clue how to land.'

No matter how I tried, swimming, pulling, huffing, I stayed in the upper half of the room. My feet seemed to be lighter than my shoulders which didn't help at all.

'So much for blending in. At least I'm not bleeding a fountain.'

Just a simple trickle, especially for how my calf muscles were barely hanging onto my legs….

'I'll be waking soon I guess.'

If I'm lucid enough to fly.

"Valeriy?"

"Bucky?!"

'Oh god. Hahahaha. You look like you've just shot a Herbal Essences commercial! What the flying fuck brain?'

His hair was so much thicker and extremely shiny.

"What happened to your legs?"

Worry so clear on his beautiful face. He even started hopping about trying to grab a leg down.

'Awww. Pretty sure they're beyond help, Bucky.'

"Ran into a ninja?" I answered, glancing behind me. "Still after me…. Yeah still after me."

Bucky grabbed onto my dangling hand, booking it through the building.

'This sure beats being a sack of potatoes.'

"Oh shit. There's more of them," I pointed out.

Once outside, I wrapped my arms around him and took to the air. Or at least tried to. The man was so heavy and my flying rather wobbly. But we escaped the ninja horde.

'Now I'm in Hong… Kong…?'

Mostly just had the feel of it and skyscrapers on an island. Other than that, the skyline was utterly off and some of the bridges shot up into the clouds.

'Thank fuck I'm not driving….'

Preferred the dreams with a lot of death over the driving ones.

Bucky's laughter pulled me out of my head. "This is amazing."

Just to humour him, I forced myself to fly higher.

"It's the food truck."

"What?"

I floated downwards and it was the food truck at the D.C park. The very same one. Even had a bench nearby.

In no time at all, we were seated down with amazing smelling pulled pork sandwiches in hand. Bucky on the left. Me on the right.

He already wolfing down his sandwich.

I happily peeled back the wrapping of mine and opened my mouth.

'….'

It's quiet, which meant Bucky wasn't driving. Likely asleep now, so best not to disturb him.

'Can I sleep some more…?'

Blindly, I reached for my phone, half praying for it to be a couple hours to midnight. With the phone tucked under the blanket, I checked the time with a barely opened eye.

11:48.

'Twelve minutes before I have to get up…. Fuck….'

But I didn't want to get up. I just wanted to lie here in bed and maybe go back to sleep. Or not.

'Hmmm… no new messages.'

Nothing from Eve.

The pounding headache was far from pleasant. Too much to do nothing about it. I needed a bottle of water. Probably two.

'Why the fuck is my pillow wet…? Oh right. He showed up….'

Moving as smoothly as I could so not to wake Bucky, I sat up and flipped the pillow over. Silent steps were a little tricky with a foot wrapped in metal, but if I stayed on my toes, it worked well enough. Though my ankle was rather disagreeable.

'I hope I never run into him again.'

Deep down, I knew I could very well turn into a crying ball of uselessness. It wouldn't be a matter of my mind having mercy on me to escape….

It's almost a joke how my thumb navigated on its own, going through my phone to my contacts. To the one contact codenamed: Boston Cream.

I couldn't call him. I shouldn't even message him. And yet his contact information was blinding my eyes in the dim lighting of the room.

That was until I tripped over something harder than the mattress and softer than a fucking coffee table. The bedroom door on the other hand wasn't softer than the fucking coffee table.

Dart thingy in drawer. Pew pew in cabinet. Stabby thing under mattress.

"Bucky?!" I gasped, feeling a gun barrel pressed into my stomach. Ignoring the throbbing pain in my right hand was harder than usual… with all the blood rushing down to it after whacking it on basically everything within reach.

I quickly slid the knife to the other side of the room and showed him my empty hands while trying to balance on an elbow. My left hand quickly fixed my shirt before it could slip up anymore, holding it in place. The toes of my right foot desperately clinging to a cabinet handle, pulling and pushing in directions that hopefully wouldn't open it and send my knee straight into that beautiful face.

"Not going to hurt you," I assured softly.

"Val-Valeriy?" he called out sounding so very lost.

"Yup. That's me. Valeriy."

"I – I'm sorry."

Bucky almost violently retreated as if trying to sink into the bed frame. His foot landed against the door a little too close to my head while he tried to back up even more. His hand hid the dart gun inside his hoodie. Away from sight.

"It's okay. I tripped on you. My fault. I'm fine." Couple of bruises at most. And maybe far too much blood rushing to my head. "Mind giving me a hand? This isn't exactly comfortable…."

His flesh and blood arm reached out to me, very unsure as what to do. Until the cybernetic hand joined in, fingers lightly wrapping around my waist. He lifted me up, easing my weight off my arms.

Cautiously, I let my cramped toes rest from trying to hold me up. I didn't tip in any direction. Even when I made a slight move to the right to land in the little walk way between the bed and shelves, but he corrected it.

'Where…? Where am I going…?' I wondered, curling up into a ball as he continued to lift me into the air.

Never in my life have I ever sat down more gently than how Bucky placed me on the bed behind his head. The bed dipped under my ass at his slow pace but I didn't sink or bounce when he let go of my sides.

Almost instinctively, I wrapped my limbs around him, pausing when he froze up. Took a couple of seconds before he relaxed a tad, and I dragged my fingers over his scalp. His soft hair did wonders for frayed nerves, though not as much as how he seemed to melt at the touch now.

"…Are you hurt…?" he asked in a small voice.

"I'm fine. You?"

"Just startled…."

"Was trying not to disturb your sleep. Pretty sure I failed that?"

Mindlessly, I finger combed his hair into a cute little ponytail. My brain bumping around through the headache, trying to figure out how to word the burning question that hung between us.

"…Would you mind sharing with me as to why you're sleeping in this tiny space on the floor?"

Between the door, the bed, the built in nightstand and the built in shelf. A space far smaller than the cramped compartment in the freezer truck, minus the low ceiling. Not enough room for him to even stretch his long legs.

"Bucky?" I called out when there was no reply. "If there's too many pillows on the bed, we can remove them."

"…Safer this way."

"…Safer…."

I couldn't help myself with pulling him into a hug. Though it was mostly just his head that I clung to.

His hand came up, carefully wrapping around the ankle of my right leg that was draped over his shoulder. Just holding it in his hand. His head tilted to the side, hair tickling my thigh.

I could almost see it carved into the way Bucky tensed.

That he slept here in hopes that if someone were to enter, he'd wake before the second door opened. Just maybe the vibrations of a person moving would be enough.

That he slept here in hopes that if he had a particularly nasty nightmare, he'd wake before I got hurt. Just maybe he'd stumble before he reached me.

That he slept here in hopes that if Hydra showed up, he'd wake before they snatched him away. Just maybe he could slip into the shadows before they could even see him.

Or I was just reading into it too much and he just really disliked beds. He did sleep next to the bed at the safe house too. But his room had carpet.

"Would you be willing to try the bed while I drive?" I hedged.

Bucky merely straightened up his posture, as if he were bracing for an attack that he didn't want to react to.

'I'll take that as a I really don't want to then.'

"…Would you be… opposed…? To making this little area… more comfy?"

"…No," he responded, his hand dropping away from my leg.

I unraveled from being wrapped around him, tugging lightly upwards from under his arms until he stood up on his own. I quickly gathered all the fluffy blankets in the room and a few pillows, shooing Bucky to stand to the side.

A few folded blankets to pad the floor. Pillows lined the edge, covering any cabinet handles and shelves. Another pillow was sandwiched between the nightstand and shelf, hopefully it'd provide some neck support for him.

"…You don't have to do this," he mumbled while I was in the middle of covering the pillows in another fluffy blanket.

"You're not sleeping on the bloody hard floor. I'll turn on the heated flooring too. Now get in here so I can wrap you up in blankets as well."

Wordlessly, he sat down, the dart gun tucked under his leg. His brow rose when I shoved a pillow at his torso.

"Hug that," I said, going about piling blankets over him and tugging corners from under his arms as tightly as I could. Once happy with my makeshift swaddling job I asked, "Can you move your arm to the gun?"

A shift under the blankets later, I received a nod from him.

"Comfy?" I queried, when there was nothing more I could add besides the duvet and the rest of the pillows. Not all too sure that would fit. The little space was rather full of Bucky and fluffy things at the moment.

He gave a small nod, snuggling down inside. "Thank you…."

I tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear. "Good night, Bucky."

"Where are you going?" His hand popped out, grabbing onto mine.

"Driving for the next few hours."

"I can drive if you don't want to."

'Oh don't tempt me like that.'

I'd stay in bed forever if I could get away with it.

I pulled a big smile, my thumb rubbing across his knuckles. "There's barely any cars at this time. I'll be fine. Sweet dreams, Bucky," I said, closing the door behind me.

'I need water….'

The pounding headache felt like hooks yanking on the tips on my ears. Almost got water up my nose from how fast I tried to chug a bottle down.

"Sweetie."

Difficult to silently choke on water, coughing it out in spurts over the sink. Didn't want to disturb Bucky.

'NOPE!'

"Sweetie, I got you a gift."

'Nope. Nope. Nope. Stay out of my head.'

I desperately tried to pack away the memories or throw them out, curling up beside the counter. It never worked. Couldn't block out that voice by covering my ears, but that didn't stop me from trying.

All the while, I tried to stop the bile from trying to escape my stomach. My throat wanting so badly to gag. But I couldn't throw up without Bucky picking up on this mess.

"Did you miss me, Sweetie?"

I flicked on the faucet to the coldest setting and shoved my head under. The freezing water helped me in my attempt to ignore the fear clawing up from between my shoulder blades.

"Sweetie, why won't you do this for me?"

'He's not here. He's not here.'

"Don't you love me?"

'You're not going to try and stuff yourself into a closet so you're fine, you fucking idiot.'

"I love you so much, Sweetie."

'You're fine. You're fine. You're ' ' 're fineYou're fineYou'refine.'

Eventually, I found myself staring at the phone. Screen on Devon's contact information. Again.

'Don't call him. You're fine. You're totally fine.'

I quickly flicked away from his contact and navigated my way over to Eve's chat.

'No new messages…. I hope you found the kid you're looking for….'

With couple of deep breaths with Bucky's voice counting down in the back of my head, I got up from under the table I somehow managed to crawl under. Stretching out all my sore muscles, I plucked the mask sheet off the table and pressed it to my face. Paranoia helped keep me safe before. I headed to the driver's seat to get us further along this road trip of ours.

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'I need more money to do all this. I'll have to pick up a few more clients….'

Slamming the laptop shut, I flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. All those missing children posters still burned into the back of my eyes. I needed to calm my fidgeting. There was nothing I could do about the situation until Eve found the damn kid she wants so badly. Still, I wish there was just something I could do.

'…I wonder if I can convince Gramps to foot the bill for this…. Oh we're here.'

Unfolding from the pillows surrounding me, I slammed the laptop shut and hobbled out of the bedroom over to Bucky.

He was just frozen there, in the middle of the hall, staring out one of the side windows.

Not liking the feeling twisting in my gut, I quietly opened a drawer, the one filled with utensils and a gun at the back. One loaded with bullets. Silently, I made my way over to the still frozen young man.

"Hmm…. Sexy – The hell?" I questioned when a warm hand smacked over my eyes.

His cybernetic arm wrapped around my waist, lifting me up since his right hand refused to leave my face even when I tugged on it.

"Bucky?"

Pretty sure he's tucking me back into the bedroom, where there were no windows that faced in the direction he didn't want me looking at.

"I've always wondered what it'd be like to spin around super fast with watermelon sized tits. Would I get flung off balan – mmph…?"

His hand moved from my eyes to silence my mouth. His pinky hooked under my jaw to keep my teeth clamped shut.

At the bright red cheeks in front of me, I broke down into laughter. Even the little tip of his ear peeking through his hair was pink. I couldn't stop the giggles, and it hurt to keep going. My ribs and abs didn't like the strain.

When I finally freed my mouth from his grip, I lightly chimed out, "It's just a paint job, Bucky."

"But… but it's…."

"A painting of a naked woman riding a horse? What has you all twisted up in a knot?"

The corners of his lips tipped so far downwards.

'I wonder if he remembers coming across provocative pictures before…. It's not that different.'

Then again I had the sinking feeling that it wasn't him seeing such a thing, but rather the fact that the van's paint job was so out in the open for anybody to see.

'Swim suits were different back then… right…?'

"You… you shouldn't… shouldn't…? It's not…. It's not…?"

His brows furrowed, confusion blooming across his face. Those bright blue eyes stared at me so helplessly lost.

'Oh you don't know why you dragged me away from the van, do you…?'

"Paint jobs like that are still frowned upon. It exposes children to images the average parent isn't comfortable with having their kids seeing or some shit. This one's not so bad? I remember seeing one with her legs spread to the side with the sun beaming out of her v – "

Again, Bucky's hand slapped over my mouth. A shrug from me later, he sent a baffled expression my way from staring at his hand.

I stuck my tongue out again and he reflexively held his hand to his chest, looking quite protective of it.

"I'll stop teasing," I said, giving in with a grin. "Some billboard ads aren't much better than basically naked women either. Sex sells?"

Bucky sighed before his head tilted for my hand. "…The Five seveN?"

"The gun?" I held it, out to him, handle first. "I thought you spotted some Hydra asshat? And darts don't do too well with a piece of glass in the way?"

I followed after him as he placed the gun back in its assigned place.

"You're fine with seeing that?" Bucky questioned, glancing out the window again.

"Not a single fuck given."

Honestly, the blondie on the white horse was rather epic. Except for her boobs. Those things were more than likely to punch her the fuck out if the horse decided to make a jump.

When I spotted a group of kids running straight for the van, I barely managed to grab onto the back of Bucky's shirt.

"Maybe don't go covering kids' eyes? They might think you're trying to kidnap them or something shit."

"But they'll see it," he practically whined, anxiously shifting his weight from one foot to the other. His feet managed to move inch by inch towards the door with each shift. Made me wonder if my finger would give out before the seams of his shirt from how much it stretched. His muscles tensed the closer the kids got to the van.

"Yeah, but we don't need a bunch of paranoid parents on us. Kids are on a tight leash nowadays and "stranger danger" became a thing. So… maybe stay away from kids in general? Unless they're physically in trouble. Then have at it?"

I poked at the button for the blackout shades, still hanging onto Bucky whose muscles were wound tighter than a spring.

"Come on, beautiful."

"Huh – "

"Let's google some breakfast place for takeout. Maybe the best cinnamon buns in Saskatoon?"

That had him perk up, going for the tablet.

'And we're safe from crazy parents. Yay….'

"There's a place ten kilometers away," Bucky pointed out on the map. "I'm coming along."

"…."

Between Bucky trying to save some kid's innocent eyes and my plans in Saskatoon, I was stuck as what to do.

'The Safeway thing yesterday must have bothered him a lot more than I thought…. Shit.'

"I won't hurt anybody. I won't touch anyone," he tried.

"That's not a problem, Bucky. I already know you're not going to hurt people."

'But I don't want you to find out I've been pilfering cars this whole time…. Or being there when I break into one of the Puppet's safe houses to bug Eve about her search for the kid. Nor can I risk you finding out about said kid she's been looking for. You're probably going to go all one man army on the trafficking ring… and the monsters on that tablet for using…. Shit, I can't even say that I need someone to keep an eye on the motorhome.'

It'd be a lie. Eve and I had set up a buzzer alert on the bracelet for anyone in this thing if they're not wearing one of my bracelets.

"There's still food left. I didn't eat much last night…. There's still a box of cinnamon buns…. You don't… you don't have to go."

This man was definitely part puppy….

Those big blue eyes…. They erase the concept of no.

"I would get to sleep faster," I contemplated, having stayed up for the past six hours or so since midnight. "Alright. I'm down with resting my ankle."

The stress and tension melted right out of Bucky. Spine straightened out. Shoulders pulled back. Practically bouncing on his heels around the kitchen area.

'He should just keep this posture. It's prettier,' I thought, as I wandered over to the dining table only to end up tripping.

Tripped on the very thing I've been ignoring since I picked it up at the last drop. Maybe I should have spent a little time tucking the handles of the duffle bag safely away. Instead, it's now in my face. Or to be literal, wrapped around my foot.

With a frown, I opened the damn duffle bag. At the top of the heavy bag sat a wine red envelope. I plucked it out while a particular person hovered over me.

"You worry too much, Bucky."

"Sometimes I feel that if I turn my back, you'd somehow end up hurt… or worse."

"You're not the only one in that boat. I have no clue why people think that."

Bucky stared down at me as if telepathically trying to tell me the why.

Message not received.

Still just as clueless.

And he gave up in the span of a few seconds. "…Does she have more work for you?"

"They always have work for me…. Just needed a break last night… and this letter is from my brother."

I hadn't heard from him since Eve had us go underground at the start of April and I wasn't expecting to hear back from him either. With a shrug, I unfolded the letter and settled down at the table, reading as the smell of toast permeated the motorhome.

'At least it's short?'

Written in the flowing petals of Dahlia. For our eyes only.

Why do I have a sinking feeling that you've gotten yourself in a bit of trouble, Cookie Dough?

More trouble aside from the potential shit storm with Cupcakes and Cinnamon Bun. None of us need a repeat of the Alps again. Imagine what he would he do for the living chunk of him? Probably anything. Which is everything being that he is fucking Cupcakes. None of us would be able to stop him.

We can't risk him leaving Geneva. Ayers made too many enemies for him to leave the secure area we made for him. It would only be a matter of time before they come for him. We can only cover for him for his absence so long. If something happens to Cupcakes… everything will fall apart.

You need to bring Cinnamon Bun in.

Cupcakes' going to be so mopey with us for not telling him. You know how much he loves him. The both of them. Doesn't help that you already stopped him from flocking to Apple Pie. You're not going to be able to stop him with Cinnamon Bun.

Food for thought. How is he even alive? We've tested the D.N.A. of all the bones we found. I just reran the tests again and they matched to the hair on his comb from last century, and a familial match to his sisters, all three of them. It's him. Those bones are his. Then again, we've only managed to find arm bones.

Is he a one armed, old ancient man stuck in bed? Is that why you haven't been able to bring him in? Or did he somehow pull an Apple Pie without the Super Soldier Serum? Where has he been this whole time?

I'm rather tempted to peek at Eve's files, but I shouldn't on the off chance Cupcakes catches me or I leave some trail for him to follow. Contact me when you get the chance. I want to know.

Now, your request to adjust the chains, it's been done. Who I'm going to assume is Cinnamon Bun isn't going to be puppeted about by Eve anymore. I was tempted to change and add a couple of things, but I do see some loopholes in your wording. I don't know what exactly it is you need, so everything is done exactly as you wrote it.

As for Mochi attending the symposium in Dublin, I have her covered. Don't stress over your poor timing. Nothing will happen to her. Yes, I did hear about the talk Dr. Cho is giving on printing flesh. I'll be attending virtually, so fret not about me going rogue on you.

Everyone will be safe for when you return to your post. Until then, stay safe.

Once you return, I will be joining the expedition in the Sahara. We have another lead on the Smurfs. If you're up for it, you should join us. It's been some time since we explored ruins together.

Do reach out to me before things get out of hand again. There never was supposed to be a last time.

You're not alone,

– Chocolate Orange Peel.

P.S. I figured you'd be on a road trip or on the railway, so I sent this off with an updated version of an old surprise.

'An old surprise…?'

"Oh! Did he send the thingy!? Please be the thingy!"

As I dug through the duffle bag, I had the small inkling that Bucky may or may not have caught me by the back of my shirt on my way down.

"Another phone?" Bucky asked, staring at the same model phone as ours but in a much clunker case.

"Just looks like a phone. It's been mostly gutted."

"Like how the Puppet weapons look the same as regular ones."

"Yeah. Let's us slide by without anyone asking questions for the special tech we don't bring to market."

"So what does this do?"

"A camera. Takes special photos," I grinned, standing behind him and holding the phone out in front of us. "Welcome to the age of selfies, Bucky."

"Was that…? You can't have a picture of me on that. They'll find – "

"It's all good," I stated lightly, scratching at his scalp to calm him some. "We use it for private photos. We didn't want anyone to stumble across a photo of people close to us. Friends. Significant others. We didn't want to put them in danger. So this camera came to be. Doesn't have online capabilities, so it can't be remotely hacked. The memory cache where the photos are stored is routinely cleaned. Unless you store it in the other one for later use. So it's safe to use."

Searching the surroundings, I snapped another photo. This time of Bucky's choice of breakfast, a bowl of neatly diced fruits.

"It works by hiding one image in another via a 25 character code. '321 Bucky's first selfie.' will be the code of this one. Then you print it like so."

While that was spitting a photo out of the case, I searched for the last part of this system. A rather thick piece of glass. Tapping on the edge, I quickly scrolled through the numbers and alphabet to match the code.

"This thing keeps an entered code for about ten minutes…?" I said, laying it over the photo.

The bowl of diced fruits turned into a photo of our faces. My smiling face and Bucky's adorably lost looking face.

When his fingers hesitantly moved towards the camera disguised as a phone, I half placed it in his hands.

"Have at it. The duffle bag's full of the film and there's more where we'll be staying."

"What's a selfie?" was the first question out of his mouth.

"Taking a picture of yourself. Flip the camera to the front, then stick your arm out and snap a photo. Selfies aren't the only pictures to take. Landscapes. Animals. People…. Food…? Anything. Can slip them in the pages of your journals too. Whatever you want, Bucky."

"Whatever I want…."

"And there's a normal photo option – Haha, 'kay. Go for it," I said without needing to slap on a smile.

I was already grinning ear to ear at the puppy eyed look he sent my way, his fingers nervously clinging onto the camera. The little tilt of the camera lens towards my face was all I needed to know what he wanted.

Bucky snapped a picture and then of my half eaten toast, quickly navigating the program and printing out a photo.

For some reason or another, he felt the need to hide a picture of the one whole cinnamon bun he had left.

'…Harder to take away something from somebody when you don't know what to take….'

.

.**.

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AN:

I'm super curious if anyone else has the whole dying and respawning thing in their dreams. I haven't come across anyone else who actually felt themselves die since they wake up before that happens. (The adrenaline from that should wake a person up.)

Val's style of dreaming is based off of mine. Bucky's are based off of a friend of mine.

Let me know how your dreams are. It's something I'm curious about.